Cat On A Cool, Shingled Roof (PQW 4/25/12)

I’ve heard rumors that you can be a cat owner and go on to live a normal life. I have not yet experienced this sort of phenomena. We have a dog that we’ve had since shortly after getting married. She’s a wonderful family member and considered one of our children. I’ve read many studies that show that animals can lower your blood pressure, and I believe that could be true (most of the time) of our dog. However, the people who did this study should meet my cat.

Last night, she happened to be stuck on our roof, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Our cat arrived into our lives in December of 2009 after my husband stopped all 4 lanes of traffic on highway 17 to rescue a kitten who believed he was evil incarnate, apparently. She was somewhat injured and Craig has a big heart because he chased her all over the place. He managed to grab the fur ball and bring her home to a confused wife. I like cats, but I wasn’t sure we needed one. After paying her vet bill, she definitely became a Davis and was graced with the name Noel since it was right before Christmas. She’s a lovely cat! She’s a long-haired calico and she is unequivocally insane. She happily sleeps most nights on the end of our bed...or between us...or on Craig’s head. She enjoys a good sunbeam like most kitties and is a fantastic mouser. Her favorite thing to do is stalk our 4 year old. She hides in the baby nursery and leaps out at Carson when he’s running down the hallway, which makes him shriek and then laugh like crazy. She throws her own toys in the air and does wild acrobatics throughout our living room. If there is a moth in the house, we will probably lose a lamp. She absolutely refuses to allow you to use the bathroom without company. And...she was just on our roof.

When Craig came to tell me she was on the roof (again), I quoted the wise words of my father: “Have you ever see a cat skeleton on a roof? She’ll get down.” Last time, she got down by climbing a branch that was touching our house. That branch is long gone and I thought about that around midnight when I could hear the cries of my sweet damsel in distress (or maybe it was “Romeo, Romeo...” I don’t know since I don’t speak cat). I quietly slipped out of bed, donned my shoes and went out into the cool, night air to check on her and offer encouragement. She seemed genuinely stumped by her predicament and I was duped into helping her...by making myself look like an idiot. After several ridiculous failed attempts, I gave up and went to bed. She greeted us in the garage this morning, looking especially innocent. 

She’s no dummy. It’s debatable about her owners.

5K for Samaritan's Feet

Kids today have mostly anything they could possibly ever want. Many kids I know have more high tech toys & games than I even know how to use. Thankfully, all the kids I know have most of their basic needs too, but that isn’t the case everywhere. Did you know that 300 million children across the world go without shoes each day and a million die as a result? Die without shoes, you ask incredulously? YES! People are dying from exposure to parasites that can be stopped by the wearing of protective foot wear. Shoes can save your life in some parts of this world. As a woman, I always knew shoes were awesome, but even I didn’t know they were life-saving!

This is exactly why there is an organization of over 70,000 volunteers called Samaritan’s Feet!  These people want to make a positive difference in the world and are succeeding by reaching out to 3.5 million children and adults in 60 nations around the world. They wash feet, provide shoes and give them a message of hope. This work is made possible by donations from awesome people like you!

Interested in helping out this good cause? I knew you would be! On April 28, the Junior Women’s Club of Perquimans County and Samaritan’s Feet have partnered to host a 5K to raise money to help this awesome mission. You can run or walk, by yourself or in a group! Register before 4/26/12 at www.active.com or in person the day of the race. Packet Pick-up/Registration 6:30am-8:00am on Race Day at the Recreation Dept. Race starts at 8:30am. Children under 12 run free. If you would like more information about Samaritan’s Feet, visit www.samaristansfeet.org . They are a sister organization of Samaritan’s Purse that does the Operation Christmas Child shoebox drive every year. Need more race info? Ask me or email gfwc.jwcpc@gmail.com

Not a runner? Yeah, I’m not much of one either. That’s ok! Feel free to walk the 5K! It’s really not that far. You can do it. Are you thinking about being a runner? The Couch to 5K plan is really great to get started. I tried it a couple of years ago. Running was expensive for me. All that most people need to run is a great pair of sneakers and some self-hate. I needed a new wardrobe of high-tech, sweat-wicking workout clothing designed to make me look much faster than I really am. I got picked on for that. To those “haters” I say ‘I might be incredibly well-dressed, whining and kinda slow, but I’m lapping all of you guys on the sofa!’ 

Feel free to use this 5K to recharge those “new year’s resolutions” for a fit lifestyle! It will feel great to cross the finish line. A sense of accomplishment and a sense of charity in helping a wonderful organization. How can you go wrong? Go sign up!

Pin It!

Have you heard of Pinterest? It is my current internet obsession. It’s like a virtual bulletin board where you can pin ideas from all over the internet in one place so that you can find them. Genius, really. If you are an internet user, you know how frustrating it can be to try to keep up with ideas you’ve seen for home decor, recipes, gifts, fashion or whatever you happen to want to remember. You end up bookmarking entire sites or writing it all down in a little book. Later, you don’t remember why you have it saved. Pinterest helps you organize all of those things in neat little boards along with a little note-to-self to jog your memory. It also lets you see what your friends are pinning and you can get ideas from them! Obviously, this can be a total time sucker if you aren’t careful, but I have found the coolest stuff! It really makes the vast expanse of the internet much more user friendly.

For example, did you know you can bake a cake, wrap the sides in Kit-Kat bars and top it with M&M’s? Neither did I! And I also can’t imagine wanting to make my pancreas self-destruct like that, but it was certainly pretty. I’ve found about 600 varieties on the basic grilled cheese sandwich. I have a board titled “Yum-Yums” just to save my favorite recipes. I also have a board entitled “Health & Fitness” filled with healthy recipes and exercise motivators to help counter-act the more decadent recipes I see.

There’s so many ideas out there for entertaining children, but until Pinterest came along those ideas were scattered amongst many a blog all over the internet. Now I can find them! Lots and lots of craft ideas, fun games, and even cheap day trip ideas for the family. There are many educational activities for those who home school or people who just want to make learning fun. I’ve tried a few with my oldest son and he enjoyed it. It makes rainy days at home much easier when you can whip up a marshmallow shooter in no time.

I enjoy learning about photography and have been inspired to try several neat picture combos that others have posted. I have a “want to read” and “want to see” board to keep up with books that interest me and movies that catch my eye since I can never remember titles when I need them. I started a board just for all of the pretty home decor ideas I’ve seen. I’m seriously considering learning to sew. So many of these things are incredibly easy with just some basic skills. Just what I need: yet another hobby!

I see a lot of ideas for fashion too. Did you know you can temporarily dye your hair with chalk? I absolutely must have rainbow hair for a day.

Ok, so not all of these things I find are important.

Fun Times Two! (PQW 2/1/12)

After an extended hiatus, I am back to writing columns! (Or at least going for the ole’ college try.) These 500 words or less will be punctuated by breaks you won’t see, hopefully. I am the mother of two boys now which means I don’t do any one activity for very long at all anymore! Aside from the obvious balancing act that I am still learning, it has been so much fun! I wasn’t really expecting that part. No one told me that! I was expecting all the hard stuff. Most people reacted to the news of a second boy with offers of prayers for my sanity, but I don’t suffer from my insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!  

I’m fairly new at this mommy of two thing, just over a month in; but I have learned a few encouraging things. I have discovered that having a 2nd child is easier in many ways. I knew what to expect for the most part. Not that there haven’t been surprises along the way! Mainly, our 2nd arrival, Andrew, arrived two weeks early and 3 days before Christmas! That, by far, was probably my best week ever. A total blur when I think about it now. I had a baby and my oldest child, Carson, turned into a big boy all in the same week! Then we came home and had Christmas! I remember standing at the front door holding my sweet smelling baby bundle and watching his big brother learn to ride a real bike with training wheels! We were completely surrounded by my family & extended family, a ton of food and so much love. Wrapping paper and laughter flew around my house and I just sat in the midst of the joy feeling incredibly blessed! 

Another awesome surprise has been discovering that Carson was born to be a big brother. I was warned he’d be jealous, but we haven’t seen that at all. In fact, the only issue we’ve had is convincing Carson that baby Andrew isn’t going to do something spectacular if he leaves his side for a minute! He loves holding him and helping me. He loves singing to him too! Once, I was busy and the baby started to cry. I was rushing back in and found Carson singing “Jesus loves me” to his little brother. You know what? It worked! Andrew was staring at Carson and happily kicking his feet around! 

I’ve had a lot of help as well. Craig, my family and Craig’s mom have all helped a great deal at different times. That has made my recovery and our adjustment as a family of 4 much easier, but it is challenging at times. I definitely don’t believe in evolution because if it were real, mothers would grow at least one extra arm per child. I might look like a freak with four arms, but I’d get a lot more done! 

Postpartum workout :)

My husband bought me the Adele CD. Shown here dancing with my sweet boys! 

Fantastic advice

‎"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive 

them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of

 ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people

 may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness,

 people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do

 today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the

 world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your

 best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and

 God. It was never between you and them anyway."

— Mother Teresa

Count The Blessings (PQW 11/23/11)

I love Thanksgiving! I love the whole idea of setting aside a time in our year to really focus on all of the great things we really have. If you are like most people (ahem, me), our day-to-day blessings sometimes get lost among the distractions of life. While the whole country seems to be full-steam ahead on the Christmas train, I think it’s so important for us to take the time to stop and be grateful for what we already have before we focus on all the things we want. Do you feel overwhelmed with Christmas? Taking the time as a family to discuss all the wonderful things you have been blessed with really puts all of the shopping at Christmas in perspective.

In my family at Thanksgiving, we take time before the blessing to go around the table and mention something we are thankful for that day. I was thinking of that recently and wondered what I would pick this year. As I went through a list in my head, I was humbled and overwhelmed. 

I am very thankful to be a Christian in America and free to worship my Savior in the church of my choice. I’m thankful that all the people who predicted “dooms day” this year were totally wrong. I’m thankful that I get to raise my children in the town I grew up in. I have a fantastic husband who has a great job in this economy that allows me to stay home and raise our children. It’s an even bigger blessing that he actually enjoys what he does for a living most of the time! I’m thankful there’s still a few TV shows left that I can stand to watch. I’m super thankful my son uses the potty now. I’m thankful to have a great relationship with my smart and funny parents. I even get along with my mother-in-law! I’m thankful the sun still rises, even on the days when I don’t want to. I’m thankful to be expecting our second son. His arrival will complete our family in a wonderful way. I’m very grateful for technology. It allows us to stay in contact with so many important people in our lives. I’m thankful for coffee. I’m thankful for those Magnum chocolate caramel ice cream bars. I’m thankful for my son’s preschool teachers.  I’m thankful for our home and vehicles and to have enough food to feed my family. I’m thankful for my sister, her family, and all the laughs that come from spending time together.

Even when you think life is pretty rough, there’s so many little things and big things to celebrate! When you count the blessings in your own life, let them over flow into the lives of those less fortunate. The food bank is always in need. Those handsome Marines in uniform would be happy to accept your Toys for Tots. Let your blessings bless others this year!